Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Continued Heavy Fighting In Iraq 2nd Week of May 2015

There was more heavy fighting, and an uptick in terrorist
attacks in Iraq during the second week of May 2015. In Anbar the government
continued to try to gain back territory it lost last month. The battle for
control of the Baiji refinery was on going in Salahaddin, while in Baghdad and
Diyala there were mass casualty bombings. The Islamic State looks to be trying
to counter attack in selected areas and launching more terrorist bombings to
make up for its recent losses.

There were 154 attacks reported in the media from May 8-14,
2015. That was the exact same amount as the week before. The actual numbers are
always higher. That averaged out to 22.0 attacks per day, which was on par with
April’s 21.1. Baghdad continued to be the most violent with 46 incidents. Anbar
was next with 36, Salahaddin had 22, Diyala 18, Babil 8, Kirkuk 7, and Najaf 1.

Those attacks led to 419 dead and 549 wounded. The former
was made up of four peshmerga, six sahwa, 9 Hashd al-Shaabi, 91 members of the
Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 310 civilians. The latter consisted of seven
peshmerga, 20 Hashd, 28 sahwa, 110 ISF, and 384 civilians. Salahaddin was the
deadliest province with 113 fatalities, followed by 99 in Baghdad, 89 in
Diyala, 74 in Anbar, 26 in Ninewa, 13 in Kirkuk, five in Babil, and one in
Najaf. Again, the real casualty figures are likely much more than what gets
into the press.

Violence
In Iraq By Week 2015

Date

Incidents

Dead

Wounded

Jan 1-7

184

434

464

Jan 8-14

170

730

493

Jan 15-21

182

390

515

Jan 22-28

189

466

894

Jan 29-31

90

288

529

JAN

815

2,308

2,895

Feb 1-7

155

380

688

Feb 8-14

170

406

559

Feb 15-21

165

573

364

Feb 22-28

165

371

687
+ 386

FEB

655

1,730

2,683

Mar 1-7

172

372

587

Mar 8-14

133

348

656

Mar 15-21

142

1,299

503

Mar 22-28

170

235

406

Mar 29-31

72

205

219

MAR

689

2,459 + 4

2,371 + 150

Apr 1-7

121

212

422

Apr 8-14

133

626

525

Apr 15-21

169

722

714

Apr 22-28

160

483

483

Apr 29-30

50

162
+ 7

182
+ 299

APR

633

2,212

2,625

May 1-7

154

626

450

May 8-14

154

419

549

Violence
In Iraq By Province May 2015

Province

May
1-7

May
8-14

Anbar

34 Incidents

75 Killed: 21 ISF, 30 Hashd, 24
Civilians

103 Wounded: 54 ISF, 49 Civilians

15 Shootings

19 IEDs

1 Suicide Bomber

2 Suicide Car Bombs

2 Mortars

2 Rockets

36 Incidents

74 Killed: 16 ISF, 2 Sahwa, 9
Hashd, 47 Civilians

176 Wounded: 62 ISF, 7 Hashd, 26
Sahwa, 81 Civilians

26 Shootings

14 Suicide Car Bombs

4 Mortars

Babil

-

8 Incidents

5 Killed: 5 Civilians

20 Wounded: 5 Hashd, 15 Civilians

1 Shooting

3 IEDs

2 Sticky Bombs

1 Sound Bomb

Baghdad

68 Incidents

105 Killed: 3 ISF, 1 Sahwa, 101
Civilians

234 Wounded: 7 ISF, 5 Sahwa, 222
Civilians

28 Shootings

28 IEDs

4 Sticky Bombs

1 Suicide Car Bomb

2 Car Bombs

1 Rockets

46 Incidents

99 Killed: 2 ISF, 3 Sahwa, 94
Civilians

218 Wounded: 9 ISF, 2 Sahwa, 207
Civilians

15 Shootings

22 IEDs

1 Sticky Bomb

1 Suicide Car Bomb

3 Car Bombs

1 Mortar

Basra

1 Incident

1 Shooting

-

Diyala

9 Incidents

23 Killed: 3 ISF, 1 Asayesh, 19
Civilians

23 Wounded: 8 ISF, 3 Asayesh, 12
Civilians

4 Shootings

2 IEDs

1 Sticky Bomb

18 Incidents

89 Killed: 10 ISF, 1 Sahwa, 78
Civilians

66 Wounded: 7 ISF, 59 Civilians

7 Shootings

5 IEDs

1 Suicide Bomber

2 Suicide Car Bombs

Kirkuk

9 Incidents

10 Killed: 1 Peshmerga, 1 Hashd, 8
Civilians

17 Wounded: 4 Peshmerga, 13
Civilians

4 Shootings

3 IEDs

1 Mortar

7 Incidents

13 Killed: 4 Peshmerga, 9
Civilians

6 Wounded: 5 Peshmerga, 1 Civilian

4 Shootings

1 IED

Ninewa

11 Incidents

342 Killed: 324 Civilians

5 Shootings

25 IEDs

17 Incidents

26 Killed: 2 ISF, 24 Civilians

2 Wounded: 2 Peshmerga

8 Shootings

20 IEDs

1 Sticky Bomb

Salahaddin

22 Incidents

89 Killed: 79 ISF, 8 Hashd, 2
Civilians

73 Wounded: 54 ISF, 10 Hashd, 9
Civilians

22 Incidents

113 Killed: 61 ISF, 52 Civilians

61 Wounded: 32 ISF, 8 Hashd, 21
Civilians

13 Shootings

1 IED

1 Suicide Car Bomb

1 Car Bomb

1 Mortar

Car
Bombs In Iraq May 2015

Date

Location

Dead

Wounded

May 1

May 2

Garma,
Anbar

Karrada
x2, Baghdad

29

66

May 3

May 4

Baiji
Refinery, Salahaddin

3

5

May 5

Garma,
Anbar

Karrada,
Baghdad

6

13

May 6

May 7

Baiji
x2, Dour, Hamrin x2, Salahaddin

57

39

Totals

11

95

123

May 8

Baladrooz
& Kanaan, Diyala

22

59

May 9

Karrada,
Baghdad

8

30

May 10

Fallujah
x3, Anbar

Shaab,
Baghdad

Taji
& Tarmiya, Salahaddin

23

26

May 11

May 12

Sadoun
St & Tahrir Sq, Baghdad

14

37

May 13

May 14

Dulab
x9 & Jubba x2, Anbar

6

54

Totals

22

73

206

The Islamic State has been picking up its vehicle borne
improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) and the second week of May was no
exception. There were 22 car bombs during the week, double the amount from the
previous week. There were 14 successful VBIEDs in Anbar alone with three used
in fighting outside of Fallujah on May 10,
and then 11 in Dulab
and Jubba
on May 14. There were four in Baghdad, two of which targeted pilgrims heading
towards Kadhimiya for the Imam Kadhim shrine. Finally, Diyala witnessed two
mass casualty bombings as well against mosques there. In total, 73 people were
killed and 206 injured from these attacks.

In the second week of May government forces continued their
drive to retake lost territory in central Anbar. On May 8
central Ramadi was declared secure. Two days later most of Garma was secured,
and there were sweeps through Albu Faraj, eastern Sufiya, Thar Thar, and Habaniya
Lake. At the end of the week new operations
were being launched in Dulab and Baghdadi as well. Finally, there was fighting
on the outskirts of Fallujah as well for several days. The Islamic State
responded with constant counter attacks in all of those areas, which resulted
in the fall of Ramadi during the weekend. That highlighted the precarious
security situation in the province. Government forces are simply spread too
thin in the area. They can make an advance in one area, and have IS make gains
in another. There has been an on going debate that the Hashd al-Shaabi should
be deployed to Anbar to help, but some elements have already been deployed
there for a few weeks now. From May 8-15, 9 Hashd were killed and 7 wounded in
fighting there. The problem is the vast size of the governorate can swallow up
forces, and the government is still divided on how much assistance to provide
to the tribes and security forces there because there are fears that they are
either IS supporters or former insurgents.

In the first week of May there were no reported attacks in
Babil. That didn’t mean there was no violence there, but highlights the limits
of war reporting in Iraq right now. There are large swaths of the country that
get little to no coverage. During the second week of the month there were eight
incidents in the province, resulting in 5 killed and 20 wounded. Attacks were a
little different form usual. While some incidents were in the north in places
like Yusifiya and Mahmudiya where IS has tried to regroup after losing its
stronghold of Jurf al-Sakhr at the end of last year, there were others in the
center. Hillah was struck twice with a sticky bomb and a sound bomb. This was
the first time the provincial capital had been hit since March. Still, security
is greatly improved in the province since the fall of Jurf al-Sakhr, and IS has
not been able to recover in Babil since then.

Baghdad remained a major target during the week with 46
attacks there. That was actually down from the previous few weeks when there was
over nine attacks per day. In the second week of May there was an average of 6.7
incidents per day. IEDs remained the main form of attack with 22, but there
were also four mass casualty car bombs, three of which were aimed at pilgrims.
That cost the lives of 27 people and wounded another 67. After the summer
offensive in 2014 the Islamic State shifted away from sending car bombs to the
capital. In the last
month that has changed with more VBIEDs being sent there to inflict
civilian casualties as IS losses ground on the battlefield. Finally, there has
been a large increase in the number of bodies dumped in the capital. In the
first two weeks there were a total of 39 bodies discovered, which surpasses the
38 that turned up in all of April. While insurgents might be behind some of
these murders the locations of where the bodies were left points towards
militias. These extra judicial killings usually correspond with feelings of
insecurity spreading. For example, there was a huge jump in these incidents
during the summer after the fall of Mosul when there were fears that the
capital might fall. The fighting around Ramadi in Anbar led to a wave of
displaced arriving in the capital. This led to rumors that some of them were
Islamic State infiltrators, and they were subsequently blamed for the increase
in terrorist attacks, which could be the motivations behind the latest surge of
killings.

There was a huge jump in casualties in Diyala due to two car
bombings there. In the first week of May there were 23 killed and 23 wounded.
The next week that jumped to 89 deaths and 66 injured. On May
8 suicide car bombs were set off in Baladrooz and Kanaan near mosques, which
killed 22 and injured another 59, 52% of the total casualties for the week. Besides
that there were kidnappings, shootings, a few IEDs mostly in the middle of the
province, which the government claimed it cleared a few months ago, and a prison
break by IS in Khalis in which at least 42 prisoners were able to escape.
The situation has gotten so bad that there are weekly complaints
in the press by Diyala officials about IS sleeper cells. It appears that the
insurgency is still well established there.

In Kirkuk violence remained at a low level, but there has
been a spate of extrajudicial killings there. During the 2nd week of
May four bodies were found. The week before another four were discovered. These
types of incidents have increased over the last month or so. In Hawija
in the south IS also executed a family of five. Islamic State regularly carries
out executions of people that break its rules or are considered working with
the government.

The Islamic State continued to poke Kurdish forces in
Ninewa. Throughout the week Sinjar was attacked, but IS was regularly turned
back, usually with the help of Coalition air strikes and reportedly suffered
heavy casualties. IS also executed 24 people, including 20 employees of the
Badush prison on May
13, and blew
up part of another Christian church and a mosque in Mosul.

Salahaddin was the other major battlefront with continued
fighting for the Baiji refinery. By May 12 it was reported that reinforcements
had reached the Baiji area to relieve the beleaguered ISF unit within the
facility. The next
day several sections of the refinery and two watchtowers were said to be
back in government hands. Still, it appeared that the militants were still in
control of a large portion of the sprawling refinery. The government also launched
an operation in the Hamrin mountains and claimed
that it was a success a few days later. This was done to help secure the
neighboring Alas and Ajeel oil fields, which IS had attacked recently. The
Hamrin area has been an insurgent stronghold for years however and was never
cleared even when the Americans were in the country. In fact, the ISF were
carrying out sweeps there the month before showing that it is still an unstable
part of the province.

Search This Blog

About Me

Musings On Iraq was started in 2008 to explain the politics, economics, security, culture and history of Iraq via original articles and interviews. If you wish to contact me personally my email is: motown67@aol.com